CLASS 7A
Saturday, March 2 at Georgia State
R3 #1 No. 2 McEachern 63, R5 #1 No. 3 Wheeler 56: Rutgers-signee Ace Bailey dumped in 32 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks to lead McEachern (26-5) to the state championship. The Indians used a 9-0 run to pull away after Wheeler (25-6) had cut the lead to 47-46 at the 6:55 mark of the fourth quarter. Nnadozie Onyirimba tallied 11 points and 9 rebounds. During the postseason, Bailey has now averaged 32.8 points and 15.5 rebounds per game.
R4 #1 No. 1 Grayson 57, R6 #1 No. 8 Milton 40: Amir Taylor posted 13 points and 8 rebounds while Purdue-signee Gicarri Harris collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists as Grayson (29-2) punched their ticket to Macon where they will see McEachern, who they beat in the first game of the season 79-62. Milton (20-11) saw Daniel Ogunyemi and Anthony Gause score 14 points apiece. Josh Dixon added 8 points.
CLASS 6A
Saturday, March 2 at West Georgia
R5 #1 No. 1 Alexander 93, R3 #1 No. 5 Woodward Academy 63: Kennesaw State-signee Braedan Lue posted 20 points and 11 rebounds. Gregory Dunson had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Torian Greene had 13 points, Jermaine Freeman had 11 and Chris Hutchinson added 10.
R4 #4 No. 7 Riverwood 79, R3 #2 No. 8 Jonesboro 63: Riverwood (24-7) raced past Jonesboro (22-11). Vanderbilt-signee Karris Bilal dumped in 30 points and Jalen Leonard posted 22 to lead the Raiders. Jonesboro was paced by Cortez Redding (21), Chris Jones (15) and Montez Redding (14).
CLASS 5A
Friday, March 1 at West Georgia
R2 #1 No. 3 Eagle’s Landing 69, R5 #4 Maynard Jackson 51: Bobby Buggs had 18 points followed by Dwight Brown’s 15 and John McQueen’s 10 to lead Eagle’s Landing (23-7).
R6 #1 No. 1 Kell 66, R8 #2 No. 10 Winder-Barrow 34: Cannon Richards tallied 14 points and 6 rebounds as Kell (27-3) overpowered Winder-Barrow (26-5) on their way back to the state championship. South Florida-signee CJ Brown added 13 points and 9 rebounds while Alabama A&M-signee Jaylen Colon posted 10 points and 7 assists. Chris McLavish had 9 points, 4 assists and 6 steals. Brayden Rouse had 7 points.
CLASS 4A
Saturday, March 2 at Fort Valley State
R8 #1 No. 3 North Oconee 65, R2 #1 No. 4 Baldwin 64: A putback from Khamari Brooks put the finishing touches on a fourth quarter comeback for North Oconee (29-3) to stun Baldwin (27-3) who trailed early but had a lead for a significant portion of the fourth quarter. Brooks finished with 28 points. Justin Wise scored 14 points, Justin Payne had 10 and Byrd Carter tossed in 8 points. Isaiah Dennis led the Braves with 21 points while Tre Lawrence and Karez Demory pitched in 11 apiece.
R6 #1 No. 5 Holy Innocents’ 52, R3 #2 Benedictine 45: Caleb Wilson shined with 18 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists and 8 blocks as Holy Innocents’ (26-6) finally put away an upset-minded Benedictine (17-8). Will Hopkins added 12 points and Devin Hutcherson had 10. Rhys Williams collected 9 points and 6 assists. The Cadets received 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals from Caleb Jones. Northern Illinois football-signee LaDon Bryant had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
CLASS 3A
Saturday, March 2 at Savannah State
R5 #1 No. 1 Sandy Creek 66, R1 #3 No. 10 Carver-Columbus 32: James Madison-signee Micah Smith scored 19 points, Jacobi Robinson had 15 and Amari Brown netted 10 to push the Patriots (26-3) back to Macon for a chance to defend their state title.
R3 #2 Johnson-Savannah 55, R1 #1 No. 4 Dougherty 51: Cormari Jones posted 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Favion Kirkwood put up 15 points and 8 rebounds and Joshua Quarterman tacked on 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists as Savannah (20-11) upended Dougherty (23-8) in dramatic fashion as the Trojans rallied and had a chance to take the lead with under a minute to go on an And-1 attempt but saw the officials whistle a charge thanks to Quentin James’ heroics to seal the deal for the Atomsmashers. Kaleke Singletary-Jinks led Dougherty with 18 points while Jawuan Jinks had 11.
CLASS 2A
Saturday, March 2 at Georgia College
R3 #1 No. 4 Toombs County 47, R4 #3 No. 2 Butler 42: Tied at 39 with 3:59 to left to play, Toombs County (29-2) dug deep to trudge past a scrappy Butler team that wouldn’t go away even after trailing 30-20 at the break. The Bulldogs (24-7) held Toombs County to five points in the third quarter and eventually secured a 36-35 lead in the fourth quarter with 5:42 to play, capping a 16-5 run. Defense carried Toombs County even during their offensive struggles. Coach Jared Goodwin turned to a 2-3 zone midway through the fourth that helped stifle the Bulldogs as Toombs County would close on a 8-3 run to advance to Macon. Dominic Eason had an explosive first half with 17 points and finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Mike Polke added 8 points and 9 rebounds including adding two important free throws in the fourth quarter. Butler saw Kwamane Bridges tally 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks while Marcus Scurry contributed 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. Roosevelt Brown stuffed the box score with 6 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
R4 #1 No. 1 Westside-Augusta 70, R5 #2 No. 5 Columbia 59: For the third consecutive season, Westside-Augusta (27-4) eliminated Columbia (27-4) and now has an opportunity to three-peat as state champs. The Patriots leapt out to a 21-13 lead to start and held a 39-32 advantage at the half. In the third quarter, Columbia responded and trimmed the lead to 40-38, but Westside-Augusta would turn to a zone defense to stifle the Eagles. Eight different players scored for Westside led by DeMarco Middleton’s 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Dontrell Jackson contributed 13 points off the bench while AJ Jones netted 11 and Bobby Blackwell posted 10 points and 2 blocks. Columbia saw Quay Wallace lead all scorers with 22 points and 4 rebounds. JaMarcus Hatcher closed his career with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 5 blocks.
CLASS A D-I
Friday, March 1 at Georgia College
R6 #2 No. 2 Paideia 56, R3 #1 No. 3 Savannah 39: CJ Harper took over in the fourth quarter with 9 points as Paideia (17-12) surged past a short-handed Savannah (22-9) after holding a 35-29 advantage following three quarters. Harper finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Freshman Tristan Mitchell scored eight of his 14 points in the first half and added 3 assists. Frank Jackson scored 9 points. Jermaine Edwards powered Savannah with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Maki Joyner-less Blue Jackets got 11 points from Jermontae Brown and 3 points, 9 rebounds and 8 blocks from Deshawn Davis.
R6 #1 No. 1 Mt. Vernon 77, R6 #4 No. 7 Mt. Pisgah 39: The Mustangs jumped out to a 15-2 lead and never looked back. Mt. Vernon (23-9) saw Sha’yah Goba rack up 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks while West Georgia-signee Xavier Shegog tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Mustangs outrebounded the Patriots 41-16. KJ Garris piled in 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Dennis Scott III had 9 point and 9 rebounds. Gabe Alterman had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Montevallo-signee O’Neill Connolly tallied 10 points in the loss.
CLASS A D-II
Friday, March 1 at Fort Valley State
R6 #2 Manchester 62, R8 #1 Warren County 60: Jayden Terry scored 24 points and Daryus Bryant had 14 to pace Manchester (20-8). Torossie Leslie scored 19 points and Cosa Pender had 17 in defeat for Warren County (24-6).
R7 #1 No. 1 Greenforest 68, R6 #1 No. 3 Macon County 44: Michael Robinson netted 22 points for Greenforest (26-4) while Elijah Lewis and Caleb Kawela added 13 apiece. Macon County (27-4) was paced by Frankie Raines Jr.’s 17 points and Tyler Stephens’ 11.
